Rajnath Singh projecting himself as PM candidate for votes, alleges Lalu Prasad

Patna: A day after Rajnath Singh said Lalu Prasad was "afraid of the Congress", the RJD President today hit back at the BJP chief and said he was trying to portray himself as the "real" candidate for Prime Minister's post to garner votes.

Speaking at a rally in Patna, Mr Prasad alleged that "Rajnath Singh is going to Rajput people and saying I will be the PM and not Narendra Modi."

But, Mr Prasad added, "neither he nor Modi would be able to befool the people of Bihar who are intelligent enough to teach them the ABCD of politics."

The RJD chief also said that "Rajnath Singh is a parrot tutored by the RSS."

Mr Prasad was, however, soft on Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his BSP counterpart Mayawati and said both were genuinely working for the welfare of the Dalits.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain returned the barbs on Mr Prasad and said he was "a parrot of the Congress."

"The Congress sent him to jail and got him released on bail so he could campaign in the polls. This is the reason he is speaking the Congress' language like a parrot," he said.